Striking CP Rail employees make a valid point when they say their employer really has no incentive to bargain in good faith when they know the federal government will, simply, legislate them back to work in the event of a strike. My angle is that the system is to blame for reaching the point where everything is so adversarial. Of course, the workers want to put the screws to management best they can and management is not going to do anything to improve the work environment unless their hand is forced. Sounds like a great place to work.
One of the more common comments I read on social media when it comes to the CP Rail labour dispute is that there are a number of folks out there who feel that because the company is successful and because the CEO makes a ton of cash that there should be some relation to the employees getting hefty raises. To that I say if you think being a CEO is so easy, maybe you could quit being a worker and join the ranks of the CEO.
Our Canadian government continues to be a herd of ostriches when it comes to terrorism in Canada. A plot to have a large number of people killed in Halifax has been dismissed as a plan by ‘murderous misfits’ to commit a terrible tragedy. There were four people involved and they are now either in custody or dead. Thank goodness. We don’t need misfits (presumably ones that are mentally ill) running about.
Canadian citizen Mohamed Fahmy is blaming the Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister for his continued incarceration in Egypt. Fahmy is accused of spreading ‘false news’ supporting Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. While it’s true Fahmy is a Canadian citizen, it doesn’t appear as though he’s had anything to do with Canada in about twelve years. By no means am I suggesting we tier our citizens, but the guy was born in Egypt and appears to have lived a good part of his life in that area and now, because it suits him, he’s asking Canada to bail him out. There is a good reason why most Canadian citizens don’t accept journalism jobs in Egypt and this is one of them. Play with fire, you will get burned eventually. I have no sympathy here.
Oil prices are still in the gutter, but gas prices are starting to climb. You will hear many different excuses for this, but the long and the short of it is this: gas prices are regulated based on supply and demand. We, the consumer, are still demanding a lot of fuel and, therefore, the prices will stay high. Park your vehicle in the driveway a couple days a week and the prices will come down. Most of us can’t (or won’t) do that so prices will continue to creep back up until a breaking point is reached. Now, once oil starts to climb the companies will tell you that gas must do the same because the two are directly related. We now know this is a crock of dandelions, but will be the most common reason given for $1.50/litre when a barrel of oil is back around $75.
The Winnipeg Jets are 4-1-and-2 since they removed Evander Kane from their dressing room. Here’s to betting the Buffalo Sabres won’t be much better in three years than they are today if they are relying on Kane to be one of the main building blocks.
I’ve been considering re-evaluating everything I’ve learned about watching junior hockey players for the last 20-plus years because I’ve spent the last six months wondering how on earth Carson Bogdan can’t play goal for an SJHL team. A 42-save shutout later on the weekend and I feel like maybe I do know something after all. Here’s to hoping he gets a more fair crack with somebody, preferably the Yorkton Terriers, next season. While he was playing Junior ‘B’, he would have been a freebee for any number of teams looking for goaltending help this season. I can think of two clubs, right now, that should be kicking themselves for not scooping him off the Terrier list.
Major League Baseball players start reporting for Spring Training this week. The New York Yankees have a bonus structure set up with Alex Rodriguez whereby if he breaks certain landmark home run records, he gets millions of dollars. The intent was for the Yankees to capitalize on his accomplishments through marketing, but Rodriguez has been badly disgraced through being caught taking performance enhancing drugs so the Yankees are saying they shouldn’t have to pay as the records will be insignificant. I say the Yankees should not quibble over this because if Rodriguez hits the milestones, it means he’s playing well and the Yanks will be in contention. It’s small peanuts for them. Let it go.
Nice person mentions to Ryan Monette, Dr. Robert McDougall, Darcy McLean, Marie-Anne Ramcharitar, and Shoma Hasan.
